The last thing that you want to do is to amerce your cassette in water. Make sure that anything that comes in contact with the audio tape is clean such as the tape transport, capstan, pinch roller, and record and playback heads. Once that is done, and the tape still squeeks then you may want to try the following. Tape Baking When magnetic recording tapes are being stored, moisture is slowly absorbed by the binder that holds the components of the tape together. Affected tapes will squeak when played back. The squeaking can be heard directly from the tape passing over the playback head and other fixed parts of the player, but is also transmitted electronically through the playback head. Often the tape will also sound dull and distorted.
If you hear a tape that is squeaking, stop playing the tape immediately. Continuing to play a squeaking tape can cause permanent damage to the tape, and in some cases damage to the player. This problem can happen to any tape, but is more common in tapes manufactured after the mid 1970s in the USA. The solution to the problem of squeaking tapes is to bake the tapes at very low temperature in an oven. There are as many different opinions about optimum temperature and duration of baking as there are audio engineers. Certainly, do not attempt to bake your own tapes unless you can be certain that the temperature in your oven will not exceed 60 degrees Celsius CD ROM Services Pty Ltd offers a tape baking service, and although we have successfully baked well over a hundred tapes, and haven't damaged one, we will take all care in baking your tapes, but cannot take responsibility for accidental damage. If you give us your tapes to bake, it is on the basis that you agree with this Audio List Help, Guidelines, Archives and more... http://www.pc-audio.org To unsubscribe from this list, send a blank email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
